Last night the Navigators group was invited to Mr. Wickies house up north and ordered in from a Chinese restaurant. I’ve never really sat around a table, had the head of the household sit at the end, bow all our heads to say grace and pass food around as we asked about each other’s day/life. I’ve always longed for the kind of warmth that comes from a gathering like this from my own family. It was always something used to watch when I was young, flicking through channels, or just hear my friends talking about. I know my family will probably not be able to offer this feeling I so badly wanted since young, but the Navigators group has already touched me enough.

Driving back home in his car with the rest of the crew was like going on a camping trip with Dad. Sky everywhere, some barn animals in the view, and … literally blasting ABBA.

Mr. Wickie has such a gorgeous and close-knit family and he and his wife are definitely not shy to extend the love to everyone in the Navigators group. I look forward to the stuffed turkey dinner, homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin/rhubarb pie in February.

I’ve been getting a lot of compliments about my Angry Little Girls bag and tons of smirks on the TTC. And of course the question, where did I get such a cute little tote? The characters are based on Lela Lee’s comics and her humour is obviously just as good on her totes. I received mine as a gift from the University of Toronto Bookstore at the St. George campus. (I made a previous post briefly about it in my don’t fret my pet post.) They were carrying it for a few weeks but I haven’t seen any of them around for a while now. Last I heard from some friends there are a ton of them now at the Mississauga campus and you could probably get them somewhere closer in Toronto on Queen St W, west of Spadina.

How much can it carry? Enough for me to get through a good day of studying.

– Clipboard with lecture notes

– Tons of research papers I need to get through

– A thin textbook and a novel

– 800 mL water bottle

– moleskine planner

– my small snoopy pencil case

– small makeup bag for some essentials such as hand cream and lip balm

If you absolutely love dogs then I highly recommend for all of you to read this book Marley and Me by John Grogan. It tells the story of a young Labrador retriever, Marley, who is brought into a family at a young age up until it’s last days with them. It really is a heartwarming and touching story of a dog making such an unforgettable impact on Grogan’s family. The last few chapters of the book, I admit, really brought tears into my eyes and I just had to have my own dog, Lassie, lie beside me as I’m reading. I learned of this book after looking at the favourite reads on a pamphlet that was being distributed by the Toronto Public Library. Since then, I’ve been recommending it to all my dog lover friends, and I’m even trying to get my mom hooked on to this. If you want to learn more about the book visit the website: http://www.marleyandme.com/

Believe it or not It gets better! I was actually browsing movies online and I found out they’re making Marley and Me into a movie with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. It’s being released in December 2008 but that doesn’t stop me from being excited. Be sure to read the book and then hit the theatres once it’s out!